Royal Commission on Toponymy & Dialectology

Annual Report 2016

Summary

The Royal Commission for Onomastics and Dialectology performs its scientific task under the high patronage of the Koninklijke Vlaamse Academie van België voor Wetenschappen en Kunsten and the Académie royale des Sciences, des Lettres et des Beaux-Arts de Belgique. It is the scientific aim of the Academy to study the onomastics (toponymy and anthroponymy) and the dialectology, especially in Belgium in both Germanic and Romance areas. The Commission therefore brings out scientific studies (Bulletin, Publications) about these disciplines. The Commission is also an advisory body; the government can always ask for its scientific advice.

Meetings

The statutory meetings took place in the Paleis der Academiën – Palais des Académies in Brussels (Hertogstraat 1, rue Ducale) on 25 January and 24 october 2016. There were four section meetings: each time two of them on 25 January and 24 October 2016. A plenary meeting was held on 25 January; and a meeting of the common board took place and 24 October 2016.

The Commission has its own regularly updated website that documents the Commission's scientific and advisory proceedings as well as the individual scientific activities, publications and international contacts of its members.

External editorial board of peer reviewers

The members of the Royal Commission for Onomastics and Dialectology have decided to establish a new editorial board for the periodical of the organisation (Handelingen / Bulletin). This editorial board will consist of both the Commission's members and the following eleven international experts, drawn from the various branches of science that are represented in the publications of the commission: Eva Buchi, Jean-Pierre Chambon, Georg Cornelissen, A.C.M. Goeman, Ludger Kremer, Wulf Müller, Bertie Neethling, Hermann Niebaum, Damaris Nübling, Jean-Louis Vaxelaire en Stefan Zimmer.
The members of the Commission and its external editorial board will jointly guarantee the international quality and safeguard the outstanding scientific content of the journal.

External Activities and Publications

The Bulletin LXXXVIII (2016) counts 411 pages. It was exchanged for a number of periodicals and with scientific institutions. The publications acquired by purchase or exchange were stored in the library, which is located in the library of the Palais des Académies – Paleis der Academiën in Brussels (Hertogstraat 1, rue Ducale). 20 copies are placed at the disposal of re­sear­chers and students at the scientific centres of the Belgian universities.

This dictionary offers a scientifically justified linguistic explanation of the names of about 8500 waterways. In the first part the hydronyms of the Brussels Capital Region and the eastern Flemish provinces are dealt with, whereas these of the western provinces will be described in the second part.
Bibliographic data: Paul Kempeneers, Karel Leenders, Vic Mennen & Bram Vannieuwenhuyze, De Vlaamse waternamen. Verklarend en geïllustreerd woordenboek. Deel I: De provincies Antwerpen, Limburg, Vlaams-Brabant en het Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest. Werk 29 van de Koninklijke Commissie voor Toponymie en Dialectologie, Vlaamse afdeling.
Uitgeverij Peeters, Leuven 2016, 426 p., 13 maps, 22 illustrations in colour. ISBN-number: 978-90-429-3343-9. Price: € 35.
On Friday, September 16th, 2016, Work 29 was presented in the Palace of Academies (Palais des Académies / Paleis der Academiën) in Brussels. Three lectures were given during the academic session that had been organized for this occasion.

Number 12 of the series Tiré à part
Because of its merits with respect to content and the exceptional circumstances in which the article “Toponymie de Celles-lez-Dinant” came about, it was also published as Number 12 of the series Tiré à part of the Walloon section of the Royal Commission for Onomastics and Dialectology (ISBN: 978-90-429-3489-4).

The National Geographic Institute (NGI/ING) requested the Commission to cooperate in updating the publication of the Topographic Map, scale 1/25.000. On September 14th and October 3rd, 2016 concrete arrangements were made about the procedures to verify and adapt the orthography and morphology of toponyms.
With regard to street names the Commission was consulted by numerous Belgian local authorities in 2016.

The Royal Commission for Onomastics and Dialectology has been represented by its members at several international scientific meetings, which allowed them to maintain contacts with their colleagues in Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, India, Italy, Luxemburg, The Netherlands, Slovenia and Spain.